Business Pulse

Two iconic characters battle each other in the final round of Albuquerque Business First Readers’ Special Shape Balloons Competition.

It's the Creamland Cow Airbelle vs. Smokey Bear.

Both Smokey Bear and Airabelle have strong New Mexico ties. The U.S. Forest Service’s iconic Smokey Bear is based on a bear cub that survived a forest fire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico in 1950. Airabelle is operated by Creamland, which is based in Albuquerque and has been around since 1937.

Voting for round four ends Friday at 1 p.m. We'll announce a winner in our Friday afternoon email newsletter. If you haven't yet subscribed, click here to do so.

Last year's Balloon Fiesta had 839,309 visits, down about 12 percent from 2015's estimated 955,700 visits. Balloon Fiesta has more than a $177 million economic impact for the Albuquerque metro area, according to a study done for the fiesta. Special shape balloons can cost $40,000 and more.